Win $50K in Jack in the Box Giveaway

The fast food chain announced its “Be a Rich Fan” sweepstakes this week, aimed at getting people to “like” the company on Facebook. For every person who clicks the Like button, five cents will be added to the grand prize, and one lucky fan will win the pot. The prize money stands at $4,402.95 as of this writing – a nickel for every one of its 88,059 fans – and the maximum possible grand prize is $50,000. All fans, including those who ‘Liked’ the page before the contest began, are eligible, and the contest ends Oct. 25.

But should you “like” Jack in the Box? The chain doesn’t seem to use its official Facebook page to promote its restaurants. In fact, the page is set up in such a way that users are actually becoming fans of the eponymous mascot – the CEO “Jack,” a cartoon head with a businessman body. Virtually every wall post from “Jack” is some quip or joke, with little mention of the restaurants or promotions and specials.

Still, it’s good news for fans who, rather than getting bombarded by advertisements in their News Feeds, will instead get such posts as “Just got my personalized license plate in the mail: OMNOMNOM.” And if you don’t like Jack’s sense of humor you can easily remove his posts from your feed without jeopardizing your “fan” status; just click the ‘X’ on the upper right-hand corner of his next post on your feed, then click ‘hide.’

There is one caveat for privacy-conscious users: Whether you’re an old or new fan, you have to enter your name, address, phone number and e-mail to be eligible for the grand prize drawing (fairly standard practice for contests). While you can easily uncheck the “Sign me up to receive inside information and special offers” box when entering your info, that won’t be enough for some consumers wary of handing over their personal information to a fast food chain. Then again, if you’re that concerned with your privacy, chances are you aren’t on Facebook anyway.